Arheo 31, 2014, 69–81
1.01 Izvirni znanstveni članek
Identity of Females Buried at Colonia Iulia Emona
Rekonstruiranje identitet žensk z emonskih nekropol
© Kaja Stemberger
kaja.stemberger@kcl.ac.uk
Abstract: The contribution discusses two groups of female
burials that could be distinguished from the body of the graves of
Colonia Iulia Emona, Slovenia. The town’s cemeteries yielded a
rich collection of material remains, mainly published in the form
of a catalogue and partially in studies on typology and chronology.
They provide an excellent source for further interpretations in the
field of Roman funerary archaeology. One of these is a re-evaluation
and an attempt at a reinterpretation of the existing data regarding
the two groups of burials. The contribution is a preliminary report
based on my ongoing PhD part of my PhD project.
Keywords: funerary archaeology, Roman period, identity,
liminality
Introduction
The first aim of my research was to identify and then to
analyse the graves of women from Colonia Iulia Emona.
Of the over 3,000 graves at Emona, approximately 80%
are cremations. Hence, the sex of the deceased is less
obvious and where the excavation reports do not state it
(Petru 1972, 11), I resorted to establishing the gender on
the basis of the grave goods. The criteria for gender de-
termination will be discussed below. Of the graves identi-
fied as female, I will particularly discuss two groups, of
‘adolescent women’ and of ‘married women’ (Stemberg-
er 2013, 42–65). Together, they represent a small part of
the burials at Emona. The group of ‘married women’ is
the larger of the two, with 159 graves, while the group
of women who were possibly in their late teens or early
twenties is represented by 8 graves.
Theoretical background
I consider the changes in burial related to age and sex to
be reflections of the changes in status that occurred dur-
ing the life of an individual due to different roles that he
or she was required to assume. I do not exclude other in-
terpretations, e.g. the influence of social standing, ethnic-
ity and religious affiliation (Puttock 2002), but I base my
discussion on the study of life course tradition and rites
of passages originating in Van Gennep’s (1960) tradition
with modern applications in Roman funerary archaeol-
ogy (e.g. Scheid 2008). Life course tradition discusses
how identity changed for the studied individuals in time
and how their roles in society changed. In my study, I
strongly relate to the concept of liminality underlined
by Martin Kilcher (2000), Oliver (2000) and others, in
which the changing and undefined identity of a person
69
Izvleček: V prispevku bom obravnavala dve skupini ženskih
grobov iz emonskih nekropol. Velika večina gradiva je bila do
sedaj obravnavana le kataloško in deloma v okviru študij tipologije
in kronologije, ponuja pa še bogastvo možnosti za diskusije in
interpretacije v okviru rimske pogrebne arheologije. Na kratko bom
predstavila svoj poskus interpretacije tovrstnih grobov. Prispevek
je del nastajajoče doktorske disertacije.
Ključne besede: pogrebna arheologija, rimsko obdobje,
identiteta, liminalnost
undergoing the transition from one stage of life to anoth-
er is discussed and observed in the archaeological record.
I argue that artefacts were placed in graves before the
final separation of the dead from this world and before
their initiation into the group of ancestors, following the
view expressed by Scheid in his study on Roman buri-
als (2011, 269–271). Accordingly, the items placed in the
grave were associated with the deceased when he or she
was still perceived as an individual rather than belonging
to the ancestors, Manes, as a collectivity (Hertz 2005;
Parking 2012, 108).
I agree with Parker Pearson who argues that grave goods
are not always to be understood in straightforward terms
as they appear in graves, but should be discussed in a
broader context (2003, 9), i.e. what such objects repre-
sented in everyday life and what their significance might
have been in a funerary setting. Moreover, I agree that
objects can have more than one meaning and those mean-
ings are not necessary mutually exclusive.
My interpretations are largely based on Roman law and
written sources. It is important to note that although Emo-
na is sometimes interpreted as a provincial town, it was
in fact part of Regio X both geopolitically and culturally
(Šašel Kos 2002). It also had the presence of the mili-
tary, although probably only for short periods, which is
documented, for example, at the Tribuna site (Šašel Kos
2013, 88) and also represented a vehicle for the spread
of Roman culture. Tombstones from the first half of the
1st century reveal the presence of veterans from legiones
XV Apollinaris and VIII Augusta (Šašel Kos 1997, 34),
although Marjeta Šašel Kos argues that Emona was prob-
ably never a veteran colony (Šašel Kos 2013, 89). The
names on the tombstones show that Emona’s inhabitants
70
were mostly immigrants from modern-day Italy. The ma-
jority came from the Po valley, some also from southern
Italy and Gallia Narbonensis (Šašel 1968, 565). Despite
the presence of a population of Celtic origin, I believe
that a significant portion of the town’s inhabitants fol-
lowed the Roman tradition, had access to Roman litera-
ture and observed the Roman law. The town being built
in the vicinity of an Iron Age site, we can expect rem-
nants of local, prehistoric practices, possibly expressed
as a certain continuity in the early graves with weapons
(Gaspari et al. 2014b, 162; Gaspari et al. 2014a). Graves
also revealed some elements of Norico-Pannonian cos-
tumes. The distinction between the goods from the cem-
eteries of Emona and those from other towns in Slovenia,
such as Neviodunum, Celeia or Poetovio, is nevertheless
clear (Šašel 1968, 565)1 allowing for interpretation of
the burials from Emona in the context of Roman law and
literature.
The cemeteries of Emona were located outside the city
walls, following the Roman law and customs. Burials
were probably most numerous in the northern and eastern
cemeteries, as the land to the south of the town was most-
ly unsuitable for burials due to waterlogging (Plesničar
Gec 1999, 43). In the east, burial space was limited by
the hill.
The available dataset includes more than 3,000 graves
and 15,000 associated artefacts (Vičič 2003, 39). This
large number of grave goods offers a solid base for sta-
tistical analyses and for establishing chronology. The da-
taset does, however, come with certain problems. There
is also a great lack of tombstones or other grave markers.
They were for the most part reused as construction mate-
rial from the medieval period onwards; eventually, the
modern city covered the cemeteries entirely. Few grave
plots can be reconstructed with any certainty,2 while the
outlines of most graves are easily discernible.
1 The difference in material culture between Emona and other sites
is also discussed in pottery studies (Plesničar Gec 1977, 66) and
studies of glass (Lazar 2003); in this study, however, Emona is
not included). In comparison with Ptuj, the graves of Emona do
not include as many elements of the Norico-Pannonian costume
(although the connecting element might be the fabrics, but very lit-
tle of them survives) as e.g. the western cemetery of ancient Ptuj
(Istenič 1999).
2 All positively identified grave plots were found in recent excava-
tions, although several old excavation reports also mention discern-
ible grave plots.
Identity of Females Buried at Colonia Iulia Emona
The main problem of the dataset is its lack of uniform-
ity, as the graves were excavated from the 18th century
onward. Catalogues covering the excavations until the
70ies were published without osteological reports and
with only partial stratigraphies (Petru 1972; Plesničar
Gec 1972). The lack of osteological analyses is espe-
cially difficult to overcome in establishing the identities
of the deceased from the perspective of life course stud-
ies. I reconstructed the identities primarily on the basis
of artefacts and bone size as reported by excavators and
archaeologists in the catalogues, combining this with the
information on the sex and age of the deceased where
available. The determination of sex and age using anthro-
pological methods has been done for the sites at Potniški
center and Kozolec. For the latter, only a summary of
statistical data has been published, but not data for indi-
vidual graves (Tomazo Ravnik, 2012). For Potniški cent-
er, the basic anthropological report for the 91 skeletons
presents seven age-related (Table 1) and four sex-related
categories.3 For comparison, I took into consideration
sites where age and sex were scientifically determined.
For the identification of sex, I used and further developed
the methods of Sonja Petru (1972, 16). Her observations
may be old (Petru 1972, 16), but the approach itself and
the results it yields are useful for initial analyses. They
do, however, need to be supported with parallels from
more recent studies of material culture, paying special at-
tention to the role of individual grave goods (e.g. Martin
Kilcher 2000; Migotti 2007; Oliver 2000; Puttock 2002;
Swift 2009). I strove to find parallels with other cem-
eteries so as to confirm gendered and age-related objects
and thus avoid circular arguments. In this paper, I will
discuss not only how to use these studies in the inter-
pretation of the material culture from the cemeteries of
Colonia Iulia Emona, but also to assess their strengths
and weaknesses.
As stated above, I proceeded to identify the sex of the
deceased on the basis of the classification adopted by
Sonja Petru (1972, 16) with certain modifications. She
determined women’s graves on the basis of the presence
of items such as necklaces, pendants and hairpins, while
graves containing one brooch, a knife, an axe or other
‘traditionally male artefacts’, using the author’s own
words (Petru 1972, 16), were considered male. I agree
3 Sex-related categories are male, female, child and unknown (Mulh
2008, 267).
Arheo 31, 2014, 69–81
that jewellery is a female attribute, including hairpins and
certain toiletry items like mirrors. The latter two were
also typical female attributes in the necropolises of Ptuj
(Istenič 1999; ibid. 2000), where the sex of the deceased
was established on the basis of osteological observations.
I reinterpreted some of the objects previously identified
as hairpins (Petru 1972; Plesničar Gec 1972) as distaffs
and spindles based on analogies with the Boccone D’Aste
cemetery, Rome (Aurisicchio et al. 2002).
Combs were never discussed as a gendered item since
there are not many of them in the graves of Emona. They
can, however, quite positively be interpreted as female
items taking into consideration both the associated grave
goods and the parallels from Winchester (Ottaway et al.
2012, 352, T. 59), and even more so from the Lankhills
cemetery (Booth et al. 2010, 273). Excavation data from
the latter showed that spindle whorls (Booth et al. 2010,
274–245 and T. 4.18) were also consistently deposited
in female graves. While most jewellery is traditionally
associated with women, there are exceptions: rings and
certain types of brooches (i.e. crossbow brooches, as well
as certain types of belt sets)4 can also be found in male
graves. A general typology of the belt sets from Slov-
enia was published by Sagadin in 1979, but it is mainly
focused on chronological elements without relation to
gender. Various elements of military equipment and tools
are a reliable indicator for male burials. The same goes
for razors and large knives. In connection with the latter,
I am of the opinion that not all graves with knives are to
be interpreted as male, as some knives are too small to be
anything but toilet knives. There are, however, cemeteries
where knives were indeed predominantly male artefacts,
e.g. at Lankhills (Booth et al. 2010, 276–277). Based
on an isotope analysis of bone samples, Cool interprets
adding knives into the graves at Lankhills as an ethnic
tradition that originated in central Europe (Cool 2010).
Emona, although part of Italy, certainly suits the criteria
of being located in central Europe in Roman times. In
short, graves with knives should be interpreted based on
their size and function, as well as on the basis of associ-
ated goods, which often seem to have been overlooked
or ignored in the case of the cemeteries of Emona (Petru,
1972).
4 Military belt sets are traditionally regarded as male, while Norican-
Pannonian belt sets are typically female items. The latter occur at
the cemeteries of Emona less frequently than e.g. at Ptuj (Colo-
nia Ulpia Traiana Poetovio) and other cemeteries east of Emona
(Istenič 1999; 2000).
71
Having identified burials of women among the body of
graves, I proceeded to discern individual groups. I found
that the burials include two distinct groups. The first one
is rather small and consists of burials with high-quality
gold jewellery and frequently dresses of precious materi-
als, but not a lot of other grave goods. The second, so-
called ‘married women’ group lacks expensive jewellery,
but has other toiletry items such as hairpins and mirrors.
Burials of ‘unmarried women’
To determine the first group, namely of ‘unmarried
women, I used the Martin Kilcher (2000) identification
method that is based on the presence of gold jewellery,
apotropaic objects or crepundia and miniature objects.
The presence of gold jewellery in graves, especially in
combination with semiprecious or precious stones and
pearls, can indicate that the deceased women had no
children, because the jewellery would otherwise most
likely have become part of their heirloom. If a girl died
young, expensive adornment could calm her spirit (Mar-
tin Kilcher 2000, 65). There are several graves with gold
jewellery known at the cemeteries of Emona. But not all
of this jewellery is found in combinations with objects
that would suggest extraordinary practices such as in the
graves discussed here.
Apotropaic objects served to protect the deceased. Some-
times, a particular array of objects called crepundia can
be found in graves of adolescent women. It was supposed
to serve as protection for the living from the deceased.
The spirits of people who died a premature or violent
death were dangerous to the living (Hope 2007, 9–46).
Such objects were also found in the graves of unmarried
women and children (Martin Kilcher 2000, 67). Crepun-
dia, as defined by Martin Kilcher, are ritual objects which
satisfy one or more of the following criteria (2000, 66):
they make noise, are made from precious materials, or
have an unusual, yet meaningful shape.
Miniature objects made from lead are mostly copies of
furniture, vessels and other utility items. They were usu-
ally interpreted as toys, but are more likely to have served
as ritual objects which protected the living from the dead.
In Emona, only three miniature glass vessels were found,
curiously enough in otherwise ordinary graves with no
72
other goods that would stand out, and in isolation.5 This
is in sharp contrast with the exceptionally rich graves
in which such miniature objects appear in Italy and the
provinces (Martin Kilcher 2000, 66).
At Emona, eight graves stand out from the rest for their
prominent jewellery (Table 1).6 I argue that these are
burials of high-status women in the time around their
marriage. Although gold and silver jewellery was found
in several other graves as well, e.g. Northern Cemetery
220 and 223 (Plesničar Gec 1972, 48–49), Titova cesta
690 (Petru 1972, 66) and others,7 it was always in smaller
amounts. Of the clothes of these eight deceased women,
only a scrap of a scarlet fabric survived in one of the
graves, though gold appliqués do indicate that the wom-
en wore precious dresses at the time of burial. Prestigious
objects in these graves mostly comprise various types of
jewellery, while high-quality vessels and furniture were
not present (with the exception of one bronze patera). Of
spinning equipment, only one amber spindle whorl was
recovered.8
Aside from a hair comb and a mirror found together in
one of these graves,9 there is a complete absence also of
cosmetic sets, jewellery boxes and other objects that one
might expect in female graves, usually at least a mirror
and one or more hairpins. Jewellery, however, was found
in abundance.
In the graves of ‘ordinary’ women, no more than a few
small pieces made of precious metals10 and no objects that
could be classified as crepundia were found. Although
the eight exceptional graves might seem insignificant in
number compared to the more than 3,000 burials in total,
their concentration is actually one of the highest in the
Roman Empire. Furthermore, some of them even predate
5 In graves 490, 789 and 791 from Titova cesta (Petru 1972, 51, 71).
6 Grave 1501 was not included in this research as three individuals
were buried in the same sarcophagus and it is impossible to say to
whom the artefacts belonged (Petru 1972, 126). Grave 1481 was left
out of the discussion as the report is incomplete (Petru 1927, 124).
7 The grave numbers and site names follow those used in the catalo-
gues by Plesničar Gec (1972) and Petru (1972), except where tran-
slations of site names into English were appropriate.
8 In grave Potniški center 31 (Mulh 2008, 60). It is not clear whether
spindles from Emona had actually been used or were made especi-
ally for the burial. A similar object from Boccone D’Aste was found
to have been used prior to burial (Aurisicchio et al. 2002). Whorls
recovered at Aquileia were sometimes intentionally broken prior to
deposition (Calvi 2005, 71–73).
9 Both found in grave 75 from Lenarčičev travnik (Petru 1972, 99).
10 The richest grave included 4 earrings.
Identity of Females Buried at Colonia Iulia Emona
the 2nd century, which is the established date after which
such burials start occurring (Martin Kilcher, 2000). There
are several theories as to the occurrence of this kind of
graves, but it is generally agreed that women buried in
such a way died in their late adolescence (Martin Kilcher
2000). The grave with dolls and potentially the grave with
lunula speak in favour of this theory, especially if the
dolls were perceived not only as ritual objects, but also
as toys. To the contrary, one of the burials from Ljubljana
contradicts this theory as the deceased was supposedly
roughly 40 years old (Petru 1972, 127).
It is most commonly assumed that in such graves, the
buried individual had died prematurely - more specifi-
cally, just before the wedding.11 This hypothesis, com-
mon to all interpretations, rests on the quantity of costly
grave goods. I found the explanations from the perspec-
tive of life course studies, such as Oliver’s (2000) and
Martin Kilcher’s (2000), most feasible: they argue that
if the women had been married and would have had
children, these objects would have become part of the
heirloom. Indeed, ancient authors wrote about deceased
adolescents as having almost reached their potential, and
having died just before it would have been realised. Such
children were, economically speaking, a lost investment
to the parents. Premature death also affected potential
marriages and, in turn, social and political alliances and
possible economic contributions (Hope 2007, 61). These
prematurely deceased women fall in the category of mors
immatura.12 It is generally held that girls became adults
after they were married (Harlow, Laurence 2002; Vidal
Naquet 1988, 196).13 After that, the period of being nei-
ther a child nor an adult was presumably finished and
the status of the woman undisputed. We can speculate,
however, as to whether the transformation could possibly
have lasted until the first childbirth. Emperor Honorius’s
wife Maria was obviously married, yet childless, and
buried with abundant jewellery and dolls (Martin Kilcher
2000, 66). The approximately 40-year-old woman from
grave 1489 also seems to support the latter speculation
(Petru 1972, 127).
11 This also includes the women in the liminal period just after wed-
ding but before childbirth.
12 This category was reserved for those who died violently, for chil-
dren and mothers who died during or soon after childbirth and for
children who did not live to be married (Martin Kilcher 2000, 63).
13 More accurately, after the ritual of giving fire and water to the bride,
when the marriage became legally valid (Hersch 2010, 184).
Arheo 31, 2014, 69–81 73

Grave no. Burial manner High value grave goods Date

Potniški center Stone chest, Bone hairpins covered with gold foil, amber spindle whorl, gold Unknown
31 cremation in urn ring, high-quality urn (Mulh 2008, 60)

Potniški center Simple grave pit, Three bronze and one glass bracelet, five gold beads, two gold Unknown
412 inhumation earrings, three hairpins of bronze, silver and ivory respectively
(Mulh 2008, 229)
Titova cesta 894 Inhumation Silver bead, silver lunula, 2 bronze earrings with seashells, silver 2nd c. AD
bracelet, 2 gold earrings, necklace of glass beads, earth mixed with
gold dust (Petru 1972, 82), necklace of silver coins (denarii), one
for Faustina (Schmid 1907, 3)
Tržaška cesta 6 Stone slabs, Silver cist, gold necklace, four gold-plated hairpins, gold ring, gold 1st c. AD
(1341) inhumation hairnets (Petru 1972, 120)

Lenarčičev Internal Comb, mirror, gold thread, two silver hairpins, gold flakes, small End of 1st or
travnik 75 construction, gold plates in the grave with approx. 30 different objects (Petru beginning of 2nd c.
(1080) cremation 1972, 99–100)
Tavčarjeva ulica Lead coffin, Gold hairnet covering four hairpins, 3,000 rectangular gold leaves, End of 3rd or
- sodnija (1489) inhumation gold necklace with beads, two gold rings (one with an emerald), beginning of 4th c.
seashell, panther figurine, amber fitting, bronze patera (Petru 1972,
127)

Karlovška cesta Stone coffin, Two dolls, amber bracelet and gold chain consisting of thin links End of 3rd or
2 (1338) inhumation (Petru 1972, 123) beginning of 4th c.
(child)
Karlovška Stone coffin, Necklace of glass medallions, gold coins of Gallienus, necklace of End of 3rd or
cesta 1 inhumation amber beads, gold earrings (Petru 1972, 123) beginning of 4th c.

Table 1. List of graves with prominent jewellery.

Tabela 1. Seznam grobov z opazno izstopajočo količino zlatega nakita.

If such practices are to be understood as a way of deal-
ing with an unfinished rite of passage, I propose the fol-
lowing: legal rules governing the end of the transition
during the wedding might not have coincided with the
liminal period within the conventional concept of the
whole ritual of passage as proposed by Hersch (2010,
190), whose interpretative idea is based on studies of law
(Crook 1967) and costumes (Swift 2003b). I propose that
the dress worn during the wedding served as a symbolic
protection14 for the brief time when a woman did not have
a male guardian while passing from her father’s to the
groom’s house.15 Additionally, the marital rite of passage
14 I am referring to the traditional Roman ‘wedding dress’ consisting
of tunica recta, flammeum, cingulum and vittae (Hersch 2010).
15 This tendency for strictly defining the status of the bride is mostly
attributed to social factors, but is was more likely motivated by legal
precautions. Precisely regulating the time and place of the change
in the legal status of the bride helped avoid potential incidents (and
legal disputes).
might have been considered to need confirmation in the
form of the birth of a child, after which the mother would
be expected by law to pass her jewellery onto her off-
spring. A married yet childless woman would thus have
been buried with her jewellery due to tradition.
Another important and surprisingly often overlooked fact
is that putting extraordinary amounts of gold and silver
jewellery in a grave was a considerable expense for the
family of the deceased. Only the wealthiest inhabitants
of Emona could afford such objects to be deposited. The
furnishing of the graves in terms of quantity and qual-
ity is one of the factors to be observed when discussing
the status of the deceased, besides the grave markers, the
treatment of the body and any containers for human re-
mains (Philpott 1991, 119). Unfortunately, most tomb-
stones from Emona are now lost as they were reused as
construction material from the medieval period onwards
and the cemeteries were eventually entirely covered
74
over by the modern city (Gaspari 2010). Information on
the treatment of the bodies (in terms of embalming or
plastering) was not noted in the publications concerning
Emona’s cemeteries, but reports do mention containers.
The remains of the deceased from Potniški center 31
(Mulh 2008, 60) and both graves from Karlovška cesta,
for example, were placed in stone coffins (Petru 1972,
123). The remains in grave Lenarčičev travnik 75 were
stored in a glass urn inside a stone construction (Petru
1972, 99–100). The woman from grave 1489 was placed
in a wooden coffin covered with lead plates. Despite the
missing tomb markers and unknown body treatment,
these burials may thus still be interpreted as having been
a statement of high social status. The latter was reflected
or perhaps asserted in the lavish displays of objects be-
fore and during such burials (Swift 2009, 107). Stone
and lead containers are rare in Emona. They indicate
wealth as they were used in association with expensive
and exceptional manners of burial. The importance of
the deceased is evident from the position of their graves,
mainly found in relative proximity of the road, which is
considered to have been an expression of a high social
status (e.g. Hope 2007, 145)
Burials of ‘married women’
The second group of 159 burials that I set apart in this
contribution is that of married women. I identified them
on the basis of traditional female grave goods such as
jewellery, hairpins, mirrors and wool-working objects
like distaffs, spindle whorls and needles. These objects
seem to have been placed in the graves so as to empha-
size the women’s actual or metaphorical role of weav-
ers. Toiletry items helped construct the female identity
as their appearance signalised family status and social
values related to families.
The majority of these graves can be attributed to the 1st
century AD. The earliest are three graves from the Tibe-
rian period. Eleven graves date to the reign of Claudius
and thirty-four to the second half of the 1st century. This
time period probably stands out because the jewellery fol-
lowed quite specific and quickly changing fashion trends,
thus easily distinguishable as to its date. Fifteen graves
date to the transition from the 1st to the 2nd century, six
to the 2nd, ten to the 3rd and one to the transition period
between the 2nd and the 3rd centuries. Three graves can
be dated to the 4th century and a single grave to Late An-
Identity of Females Buried at Colonia Iulia Emona
tiquity. The decline in grave numbers of married women’s
graves can be explained by the overall decline of popula-
tion already noted by Županek (2002). However, the rich
graves of ‘unmarried women’ span the centuries and do
not decline till the 4th century AD. This chronological
overview was made on the basis of previous studies of
the material and will be improved further, as point dating
does not assess the grave group as a whole, but rather
puts a date on objects with a known date.
Personal belongings of a woman are closely related to
her social role. According to Wyke, a woman in ancient
Rome was closely associated with reproduction not only
in regard to bearing children, but also in the sense of
multiplying everything that allows the family to prosper.
By extension, the objects she wore and used could bear
the same meaning (1994, 11). Sometimes those objects
are depicted on tombstones without any inscriptions.16
The depicted objects represent the woman as a symbol
of beauty and fidelity, as well as her tasks of sewing and
spinning (Kampen 1981, 96). The latter two can be un-
derstood both literally as well as metaphorically: that
women were the weavers of life, family and society.17
Grave goods which point to married women include mir-
rors and hairpins, sewing and spinning tools, as well as
jewellery boxes.
A wedding ring would obviously also indicate marriage,
but they are usually difficult to identify positively.18 From
the Emona necropolises, we have no records of rings with
the dextrarum iunctio motif. The closest one was found
in grave 16 in Ribnica.19 The ring from grave Titova cesta
932 (Petru 1972, 87) with a red intaglio and the depic-
tion of a hand bears little resemblance to the one from
Ribnica.
16 A tombstone depicting a distaff and a spindle, and bearing an in-
scription was found in Maribor (Hoffiller and Saria 1938, 120: AIJ
264).
17 The family was considered the basic unit of society and a building
block of the Roman Empire (Kehoe 2011; Osgood 2011).
18 The simple iron rings which were worn as wedding rings in the 1st
century AD cannot be distinguished from the iron rings worn solely
as ornaments. Wearing a gold ring would have been a general state-
ment of status. Furthermore, a handshake signifies agreement over
a contract and such rings could be worn by men as well (Hersch
2010, 41).
19 The grave, which is dated to the end of the 3rd century and belonged
to a young woman (Petru 1969), can serve as a basis for identifying
other engagement rings: a gold ring with an engraved depiction of a
handshake was found in the grave along with other gold jewellery,
similar to my ‘unmarried women’ group (Petru 1961, 224).
Arheo 31, 2014, 69–81
Hairpins were used for pinning the hair and were called
acicula. The length of the hairpins and the shape of their
heads varied through time and the changing hairstyle
fashions (Swift 2003b, 40). The pointed end, acus dis-
criminalis, was used for dividing hair in order to make
uniform locks (Dular 1979). The Emona cemeteries
yielded 106 hairpins. Most are bone (75) and a smaller
portion of bronze (15), iron (5), ivory (3), silver (3) and
horn (1). Some were probably also fashioned from or-
ganic materials, mainly wood, which has not survived.
As for mirrors, the Emona graves yielded a total of 82
such items. Two of them were presumably unearthed in
male graves, identified as such on the basis of associated
goods.20 The majority of them were either silver (32) or
bronze (31), with three of the latter silvered and one gild-
ed. We can roughly divide them into three groups: round
ornamented,21 plain (Riha Type B)22 and those made of a
very thin sheet of metal which was most likely mounted
on a perishable material and probably handleless (Istenič
1999, 64). None of the mirrors was found in children’s
graves.
Mirrors played an important role in changing identity
through appearance. With their help, women could con-
struct their image (Mihajlović 2011, 187). Mirrors were
used in rituals related to temporary or permanent changes
of identity such as initiations to adulthood, weddings and
funerals (Hales 2010). They were among the items car-
ried to the new home after weddings (Mihajlović 2011,
188). They were thus also symbols of metamorphosis
and, as such, potentially magical objects (Taylor 2008,
7–10). Mirrors sometimes appear on tombstones de-
picted in association with distaffs, baskets, needles and
hair combs, so they had to play a role in the funerary
ritual, most likely in establishing the identity of the de-
ceased (Kampen 1981, 96). They might have signified a
certain stage in the life of the deceased, i.e. only certain
age groups of women could have them in their graves. At
the same time, they probably expressed the social status
of the deceased, especially when made of precious mate-
rials. Mirrors are missing in all exceptionally rich buri-
als at Emona’s cemeteries, but are present in the group
of ‘married women’ (with one exception in grave Titova
20 Graves 650 and 1091 (Petru 1972, 16).
21 Riha Type C, which is typical of the 1st century (Riha 1986,
13–14).
22 Riha Type B, which is typical of the 1st and 2nd century (Riha 1986,
13).
75
cesta 894). Written sources are silent on the subject of
such exceptional funeral practices.
The cemeteries of Emona also revealed three jewellery
boxes. Their remains can most likely be reconstructed
into small wooden boxes with metal fittings, locks and
handles. Women probably used them to store jewellery or
money. They were unearthed in graves Northern Ceme-
tery 405 and 700 (Plesničar Gec 1972, 81, 117) and Tito-
va cesta 803 (Petru 1972, 72). In all cases, only a simple
ring and no other typical female objects were found in
the grave. Similar boxes were found in the cemeteries at
Križišče (Novšak 2010, 65–66), Štalenska gora (Diemel
1987) and Ptuj (Istenič 1999, 64). They sometimes ap-
pear on tombstones across the Empire. No such find is
known from Emona, while some are known from the
neighbouring Noricum. The women depicted there hold
a jewellery box in one hand and a mirror in the other
(Garbsch 1965, 116–117, T. 1–2). Burnt remains of jew-
ellery boxes and other female-related objects are known
from sites in Noricum or near it, e.g. in the cemetery at
Križišče in Regio X (Novšak 2010), but they were not
limited to it and sometimes retrieved from sites further
away, such as from the Porta Nocera cemetery in Pom-
peii (Brives 2013).
Wool-working carried a strong symbolic meaning in
ancient Rome and Greece, and played a significant role
in everyday life (Cottica 2007, 220) since wool was the
primary textile fibre. It was usually associated with the
virtues of Roman women and formed part of their edu-
cation (Larsson Lovén 2007, 229–230).23 Wool-working
also played a symbolic role in marriage rituals of the
Early Roman period (Cottica 2007, 221). It was a syno-
nym for chastity and femininity and was carried out in
the atrium,24 an open space where women and their work
were potentially visible to passers-by. In that way, labour
imposed an informal control over women (or so the Ro-
mans believed) as they were occupied with wool-work-
ing and therefore did not have time or opportunity to en-
gage in unchaste behaviour (Larsson Lovén 2007, 231).
It was perceived as an ‘old tradition’ and was particularly
encouraged in the times of the Augustan moral restora-
tion; part of the imperial propaganda was the notion that
23 Lanam fecit, frequently used in both funerary inscriptions and elo-
gia, is most likely a formula for expressing the virtues of the decea-
sed (Cottica 2007, 220).
24 The loom was traditionally positioned in the atrium (Freisenbruch
2011, 49).
76
Augustus’ clothes were produced by Livia, Octavia and
Iulia (Freisenbruch 2011, 49).
Wool-working was closely tied to the Roman mythol-
ogy. Several goddesses from the Greek pantheon, such
as Hera, Aphrodite, Athena and Artemis, were associated
with spinning and were later adopted by the Romans. The
three Parcae (Moirai in Greek) spin, measure and cut
the thread of life; the goddess Fortuna had a similar role
(Hope 2007, 48). Different heroines, e.g. Ariadne and the
Nereids, were also linked to wool-working.
Wool-working tools in graves have multiple potential
meaning and are a typical indicator of womanhood.
Women with such objects can be thought of as ‘spinners’
of life and a connection between life and death, if read in
the context of mythology. Distaffs in graves can be inter-
preted as a symbol of motherhood as mothers spin new
life by giving birth (Stemberger 2013, 145). At the same
time, elaborate tools made of precious materials, i.e. am-
ber or ivory distaffs which I discuss below, were an ex-
pression of the social status and wealth of the deceased
and her family which could afford to put such objects
into her grave (Cottica 2007, 221).
The tools used in the process of spinning and weaving are
spindles (fusus), distaffs (colus) and baskets (quasillum)
(Cottica 2007, 221). They are often represented on tomb-
stones, but are also part of grave good assemblages. The
latter often contain spindles, distaffs and spindle whorls
(Cottica 2007, 224), but not baskets, as these either did
not survive or were not put in the graves in the first place.
Spindle whorls and distaffs, especially ones made of am-
ber, were often misinterpreted as amber beads and hair-
pins, e.g. in Ljudmila Plesničar Gec’s report (1972). The
three objects incorrectly identified as hairpins at Emona
consist of amber beads on an iron wire.25 A similar ob-
ject was found in grave 75 from Tenuta Boccone D’Aste,
in northeast Rome, identified as a distaff used for hand
wool-spinning and dated to the 2nd century AD (Aurisic-
chio et al. 2002). Grave 813 from Emona is earlier than
the Italian one, as it dates to the second half of the 1st
century AD, while grave 303 falls between the two and
dates to the transition from the first 1st to the 2nd century
AD. In Slovenia, similar objects are known from a grave
at Ptuj that is dated to after AD 251 (Bertoncelj-Kučar
25 Amber distaffs were found in graves Titova cesta 303 and 813 (Pe-
tru 1972, 43, 74), as well as Potniški center 168 (Mulh 2008, 121).
Identity of Females Buried at Colonia Iulia Emona
1979, 263). Bertoncelj Kučar (1979, 263) interprets an
object from grave 1337 as such a distaff, although it is
mentioned as a necklace in the excavation report.
Ritter (1889) interprets distaffs as cult objects that served
as sacrificial items during the funeral. On the other hand
the distaff from Rome, however, shows marks of wool-
working (Aurisicchio et al. 2002, 115). Generally, no con-
nections with any particular female age group have yet
been established anywhere in the Roman Empire (Cottica
2007), but evidence from Emona might suggest that the
distaffs were grave goods reserved for the group of ‘mar-
ried women’, who were not buried with rich jewellery.
A few bone objects interpreted as hairpins were prob-
ably distaffs as well.26 They are generally larger than the
hairpins, approximately 20cm long, and have two heads.
In Slovenia, they were in use in the 1st and 2nd century
AD, with the earliest ones documented in the Claudian
period (Dular 1979, 279). It should be noted that the two
heads could get entangled in the locks of hair and fas-
tening the hairpin would have been potentially painful.
Objects described as bone distaffs were also unearthed
at the ‘Potniški center’ site in graves 271 and 368 (Mulh
2008, 166, 210).
Of other wool-working artefacts, needles were found in
fourteen graves at Emona. One was metal and the others
bone. They cannot be precisely dated because their style
changed little through time (Novšak 2010, 65). Needles
with more than one hole were probably used for multicol-
our embroidery. They could also be used to hold the wick
in oil lamps. Parallels for three-holed needles were found
at Ptuj, Dobova, Pula, Aquileia, and Windisch. In Slov-
enia, they are most common in graves from the time of
the Flavian dynasty, but they can already be found in the
time of Tiberius and Claudius (Dular 1979, 284–285).
Generally, the richer the grave, the more objects of the
same type (e.g. hairpins, mirrors, toiletry items) were
added to it, but curiously, this rule does not apply to jew-
ellery. Grave Northern Cemetery 732, although belong-
ing to the ‘married women’ group, contains an unusually
large quantity of precious grave goods. In this regard, it
resembles the ‘unmarried women’ group, but the array
of objects is different (Plesničar Gec 1972, 122); while
26 I propose that the hairpins from graves Northern Cemetery 383 and
385 (Plesničar Gec 1972, 98), Titova cesta 551, 622, 833, 908 and
920 (Petru 1972, 56, 60, 76, 84, 86) are, in fact, distaffs.
Arheo 31, 2014, 69–81 77

the objects in the second group were golden and meant
for adorning the body, grave 732 contains mostly silver
objects, two brooches, a cosmetic spoon and two silver
mirrors, most of which were functional as well as deco-
rative. The style of burial, however, resembles the rich
graves and is indicative of the high social standing of the
deceased.
Conclusion
The cemeteries of Colonia Iulia Emona yielded a sub-
stantial number of graves, although not many have been
subjected to osteological analyses. In spite of this, how-
ever, at least two distinctive groups of female burials can
be identified. The first group is rather small and consists
of burials with high-quality gold jewellery and frequent-
ly also dresses of precious materials, but not many other
grave goods. Although the group only numbers eight to
nine graves, their concentration is actually one of the
highest in the Roman Empire. Some of them also predate
the limit set by Martin Kilcher (2000). There are several
theories offering possible explanations for the occurrence
of such graves, but it is generally agreed that women bur-
ied in such a way died in their late adolescence (despite
one of the burials from Ljubljana contradicting this the-
ory, as the deceased is supposed to have been approxi-
mately 40 years old). I argue that such burials represent
high-status women in the time around their marriage.
straightforward answer would be that it was done for the
people who could afford this kind of treatment. Women
would be further divided according to their identity in
terms of age, linked to rites of passage, i.e. married wom-
en were given different treatment than unmarried women
or those with a liminal status between those two stages.
In addition to that, the pattern of artefacts deposited in
the graves changed in time. The largest number of female
burials also corresponds with the period in which burial
activity was at its peak.
Acknowledgements
I offer my gratitude to Dr John Pearce, my supervisor at
King’s College London, for all his support and guidance.
I would also like to thank Ddr Verena Vidrih Perko, Dr
Bernarda Županek and Dr Andrej Gaspari for providing
expert advice. This research is part of the PhD funded by
Ad Futura, the Slovene Human Resources Development
and Scholarship Fund.

The second group – ‘married women’ – lacks expensive

jewellery, but has other toiletry items such as hairpins and
mirrors. In this group, there is a strong emphasis on gen-
dered objects, especially hairpins, in the 1st and 2nd cen-
tury, with a hiatus during the Flavian period when hair-
cuts were most elaborate. Some of these items are quite
elaborate and it is thus not excluded that these women be-
longed to the upper social classes, though they generally
lack expensive jewellery. In later times, the burial rite
changes from mainly cremation to mainly inhumation
and grave goods became scarcer. Consequently, burials
of ‘married women’ without gendered artefacts and os-
teological reports may pass unnoticed by archaeologists.

Of all the burials in Emona, gendered objects represent a

minor part of the recovered grave goods. The gender and
age of the deceased being known at the time of burial,
the question is why was it necessary to underline gender
and the roles of the deceased in afterlife treatment. The
78 Identity of Females Buried at Colonia Iulia Emona

Rekonstruiranje identitet žensk z emonskih nekropol

(Povzetek)

Med izkopavanji emonskih nekropol je bilo odkritih več
kot 3000 grobov z več kot 15000 pripadajočimi artefakti.
Objave starejših izkopavanj, ki zajemajo večino arheolo-
škega gradiva, namenjajo le malo pozornosti skeletnim
ostankom. Starost in spol sem za potrebe te študije dolo-
čila primarno na podlagi izkopanih artefaktov.
V prispevku bom predstavila pomen obeh skupin ter mo-
žne razlage za njun nastanek. Poskusila bom razložiti,
zakaj se pojavljajo razlike med skupinama tako glede
števila kot narave pridatkov ter načina pokopa. Gre za
študijo arheologije spola v kontekstu rimske pogrebne
arheologije.

V pričujoči študiji na podlagi gradiva prepoznam dve

skupini žensk. Prva, veliko večja, je skupina „poročenih
žensk“. Tipične najdbe v njihovih grobovih so igle lasni-
ce, ogledala in v nekaj primerih skrinjice za nakit. Nakit,
kjer je bil priložen v grob, ni prisoten v velikih količinah
in je navadno izdelan iz nežlahtnih kovin.

Drugo skupino, ki jo tvori osem grobov z izjemnimi grob-

nimi pridatki, lahko datiramo med prvo in četrto stoletje
našega štetja. Izstopajo tako po količini kot po kakovosti
pridatkov, posebej zlatega nakita. Skupina izstopa tudi
zaradi svoje številčnosti in zgodnjega pojavljanja – že v
prvem stoletju našega štetja. Praviloma se tovrstni gro-
bovi pojavljajo šele v drugem stoletju. Prepoznavni so
po večjih količinah zlatega nakita, včasih v kombinaciji
z jantarjem in zlatim lasnim okrasjem – iglami s pozla-
čenimi glavicami, mrežicami za lase ali zlatim prahom.
Kljub temu grobovi v Emoni praviloma niso povezani z
ogledali, šatuljami in toaletnim priborom.
Arheo 31, 2014, 69–81
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